The Blair Witch Project is reportedly getting a reboot, and quarantine horror movie Host‘s director Rob Savage would be the perfect candidate to revitalize the franchise. The Blair Witch sequels have struggled to recapture the simple horrors of the 1999 original; the 2000 sequel, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 took the series in a failed new direction with a meta approach to its plot and slick production design, and Adam Wingard’s surprise 2016 sequel Blair Witch tried to return the series to its found footage roots but his film ultimately felt overproduced, leaving too little to the imagination. However, with a different direction, there’s still hope for the flagging horror series.
Rob Savage’s 2020 film Host capitalized on the struggle of being under lockdown, crafting a creative ghost story presented entirely as a Zoom call between friends. Like the original The Blair Witch Project, Savage proved that hair-raising scares can be accomplished with a micro-budget and that horror works best when kept in the shadows. The Blair Witch Project relied on a clever internet marketing campaign and sold its scares based on the natural performances of its stars and the fear of the unknown. Host is successful for the same reasons because it is not only topical, but its realistic presentation is seamless even when the horror starts.
Savage would be the best choice to helm a new Blair Witch film because he understands how to make a supernatural horror movie that feels real, and he can pull off terrifying minimalist scares. The setup of Host feels like an actual Zoom call between friends, with people popping in and out of the call due to bad internet connection, dialogue that sounds natural, and believable chemistry between its stars. The original Blair Witch also banked on the grounded performances of its leads, and its opening scenes genuinely feel like a group of ambitious young filmmakers trying to put together a documentary. Savage understands that relatable characters are essential in a found footage movie so that when things inevitably go awry, it is easy to feel sympathy for the victims.
Most importantly, Savage can pull off suspense with very little audio/visual flair. The Blair Witch Project was scary because of what it didn’t show; it squeezed dread out of random noises in the woods and erratic camerawork, and it perfectly captured the breakdown of the three filmmakers as the film progressed. While Host has more visceral scares compared to The Blair Witch Project, Savage still leaves a lot of the horror unseen and grounds the film with its desktop presentation and believable reactions from the actors. Savage can bring back the minimalist scares that terrified audiences in the original Blair Witch that its sequels couldn’t quite live up to.
Rob Savage has proved with Host that he has the same sensibilities as The Blair Witch Project directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez when it comes to taking a simple horror movie setup and making the viewer’s imagination run wild with the scares while directing realistic performances. Savage also has a firm grasp on the found footage sub-genre of horror and can successfully pull off big scares on a small budget. The Blair Witch franchise needs to return to its roots, and Savage is the perfect choice for another trip to the woods.
